Classifying the Personalities Who Buy Watches

By Kathleen Beckett

March 19, 2015

NEW YORK — “At any one time, I have more than 8,000 different watches available for sale,” said Michael Gordon, director of the Tourneau TimeMachine, a 16,000-square-foot store in Manhattan that is one of the largest in the world.

As a result, Mr. Gordon and his team have sorted potential customers into four “personality” groups: the professional, the connoisseur, the adventurer and the visionary.

Here’s how Mr. Gordon describes each group, and what he says about the watches that fit the type:

THE PROFESSIONAL: an executive type who needs a watch for the boardroom that can be worn to follow through to dinner. He or she doesn’t want anything flashy, but something finely made, elegant and classic.

•Nomos Tetra 27 Karat (simple and elegant Bauhaus styling, different from most timepieces, coupled with a movement made in-house);

•MB&F Moon Machine Titanium Limited Edition (looking unlike any other timepiece, this watch aims to set a new standard on how to tell time);

•Biegert & Funk Qlocktwo W (for the individual who wants to stand out with a new concept in telling time, actually reading it in English letters off the dial, because there are no hands).

When it comes to matching watches to people, the watch historian Gregory Gardinetti has another approach.

“For me the personality is one component but not all for choosing a watch,” said Mr. Gardinetti, the culture and patrimony manager of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. “Every person is an exception. If we take two persons with the same job, and same interests, this doesn’t mean that they love the same watch.”

“The interests are for me more significant than the personality,” he said. “People who love art will appreciate timepieces with craftsmanship” like enamel, engraving, gem-setting and so on. “People with interest in the technical will appreciate watches with complications. Athletes will love sports watches. If you like pure things, elegant, you’ll choose a watch looking the same.”

And of all the aspects that go into the choice of watch, he said, “perhaps the most important factor is the price.”